So I will leave out the details, but I need to purchase another shotgun asap. I have had nothing but issues with an 870 express I purchased a few years back and I am not looking into purchasing another. I really prefer the controls of the 870 over mossbergs, but I have had ZERO problems with the cheap Mossberg I also own. Can someone recommend me a make/model under 5-600 and in stock locally in the south SF bay area? Thanks! any advice is appreciated.

Is that banjo music I hear?
"Sporter" is what the drooling toothless inbred albino with the hacksaw thinks his newly created "dear riffel" is.
"Bubba" is what he and his ugly and ruined rifle really are.
First you are chopping up historic vintage rifles and sticking them in cheap and nasty looking plastic "dildo" stocks that look like some kind of futuristic sex toy that gay space aliens stick up each other's butts.
Next thing you know, you think "Deliverance" is a love story.

Sorry, I should be more specific. I am looking for a home defense type shotgun.

No on the carpet and cleanin supples, although at this point they might work better than my 870 lol. I need this for an upcoming training course. My current set up would not be the best thing for me to take to a class unless it were on how to use a broken long gun as a club.

I'd recommend a mossberg 590A1 got mine for $550 very solid has metal trigger guard, safety, heavy walled barrel and holds 9 rounds. Also has a bayonet lug which I happen to like I mean its a shotty with a bayonet whats not to like?

Don't give up on the 870's. Look for a vintage wingmaster which precedes the express models. There are always a bunch for sale at very reasonable prices if you look in the right places. IMO, the express models don't even compare to the wingmasters. They will out perform and outlast the express models hands down.

Op: Check out my thread in this forum if you haven't done so already. Might provide some additional insight for your purchase. Personally, I assign more value to reliability than price point but there's always the break point that it's foolish to go beyond.

Rob 7.62: Per your Mossberg 590, was the bayonet lug a stock feature or did you add it on yourself?

Go find an 870 Police Magnum. Will be just like the Express but will be of slightly better quality when it comes to fit and finish. I've had an 870P for about a year now and love it. It is an extremely well made shotgun.

Rob 7.62: Per your Mossberg 590, was the bayonet lug a stock feature or did you add it on yourself?

Not Rob, but the 590 and 590A1 both come with the bayo lug standard.

-Ruskie

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All the mossberg 500/590s are amazing guns. They can be had cheap, and you can mod them to your needs/wants without spending alot. Parts are everywhere since they are probably the top selling shotgun available.

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Semi-auto. At least for me, pumps are slow and in a stressful situation, you don't want to be short-stroking a trombone action.

I'm going to throw in a strange suggestion: Get a Browning Auto-5. Why? It's recoil operated, and if you get an arm wounded, you're not necessarily out of action if you need to clear the shotgun: Just jam the barrel into the floor.

Let's face it: Not many people sleep with their sidearms strapped on, and if you need a firearm you're going to grab the closest one and go go go! Whatever it is, it has to work.

This means simple, reliable, and loaded. It also means the thing has to work if you only have one hand available. For example, the 1911 can be loaded with one hand by jamming the recoil spring plug on the edge of a surface and pushing. This operates the slide.

My 870 had failures to eject, failures to extract, and the occasional jam since the day I bought it (2-3yrs ago). I never shot more than one or two rounds consecutively due to only needing it to shoot clays once in a while. After a few hubdred rounds it stopped having jam and extraxtion issues. It still has issues with ejection and that's a big cause for concern.
I am in the process of buying another shotgun for trap/skeet but I wanted to turn my 870 into more of a home defence/tactical type weapon.
I was expecting to use it for that application and take it though some training courses. However it would be foolish to do so with a firearm that has issues. It's my fault for not resolving this problem earlier but a quick internet search will show you this is a common problem and typically a pain in the a**. Again thanks all.

Thanks for the offer. I'll try it and see what happens. Like I stated earlier, after a few hundred rounds or so it has not had a shell jam in the chamber. However it still has ejection issues. By this I mean it ejects spent shells maaaaaybe 1-2 inches from the receiver if at all. I'd say its about 70% successful. Plan b is to call Remington next week and go from there. In the meanwhile I will be making a new purchase.

The only reason to spend more then $350 on a shotgun is if its your only weapon. If you have other firearms and this weapon is going to be for HD just buy a Maverick.

If you are going to use this on a weekly basis, Hunting, target shooting, sport shooting then go for a higher end gun. The same would be true if you think the SHTF/EOTWAWKI is around the corner and this shotgun will be your go-to weapon. If this is the case, get a 590 and beef it up as needed for your taste.

For home defense a 12 gauge shotgun is the best option. The rounds are for the most part VERY devastating and pack much more stopping power than any pistol or rifle by far. I recommend a semi auto shotgun like a mossberg 930 or a saiga 12.

I echo the sentiment that you've likely got a rough chamber or a burr in the chamber, and that chamber finishing may solve your issue. Also, you may have an issue with your extractor. If a little something got stuck under it, or the spring is broken, that could cause you issues.

My first recommendation is to get a second 870 but as someone else recommended, get the police version of it... and if possible, get one from a few years back because word on the street is that they were a bit higher quality back then. You can live with some handling and neglect of a police trade-in, if the action is solid and all the parts work together smoothly.

Recommendation number two is get a Mossberg 590. Mine's been rock solid. The Winchester 1300 is a good name too. I've got an Ithaca 37 (used for years especially in the prison system) but it's a cheap chinese clone, instead of an actual Ithaca. It's an ok gun, but my opinion is that the action seems more complicated and the parts and accessories are harder to find. There are better choices.

Semi-autos for defense... you'll find mixed opinions on this. Are you good with assembly, tinkering, and good about cleaning your guns? Do you always shoot high quality ammo? I've got a Rem 11-87 and it's a fighting gun... however... it doesn't cycle with cheap walmart bird shot. Feed it 00 buck and you've got a performer on your hands. My wife has a CZ 720 semi-auto. Nice gun, a real champ for upland game. But it needs a lot of maintenance, apparently, and doesn't like to run reliably when dirty. It's not a "fighting gun". Some of the high-end semi-autos are good fighting guns, so I hear... they're also SPENDY.

Everything in life is a trade-off. Just find the balance that works for you. Good luck with your search!

i'm with the suggestion that you get your remy fixed. the ejector can be fixed if sent back to the factory or your mechanically inclined, there are diy videos on youtube.
buying a cheapo shotgun can land you in the same bad spot.

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Training, dirt, ammunition, and parts are the order of most firearm problems. I’m not saying that you don’t understand you’re shotgun, but; one of the leading and primary reasons for 870 problems is user error. The 870 pump action must be cycled to the rear to eject and forward to load with aggressive attitude. I always trained shooters to try and break it every time they cycled it. If you don’t cycle the action all the way to the rear, it will malfunction, and many times you don’t realize that you are not completing the cycle. Now on to the DIRT part. A complete breakdown for inspection and thorough cleaning will include the ejector and proper cleaning of the chamber. When pumping the action after firing, if it is harder than normal to kick out the spent hull; it could be a chamber issue. It is possible that the chamber wasn't up to snuff when it left Remington, but very rare. Chamber issues can usually be resolved with a proper cleaning. The chamber is the most commonly missed area when cleaning because of not having the correct brush or cleaner. Carbon build up in the chamber is definitely problematic. As jessepresley mentioned, many people polish out their chambers to improve extraction. Crocus cloth works great for that. If the extraction process is smooth, but the empty hull doesn’t fly out of the ejection port with authority when you reach the end of the back side of the cycle, then it could be an ejector problem. It could be a piece of something behind the ejector that is unseen, or even a broken ejector. They are cheap and easily replaced. I don't know if you bought the gun new or used. If you haven't tried it already, use a proper chamber brush along with some carbon remover to scrub out the chamber. I mean scrub it like your wife's favorite casserole dish. In my experience with 870’s over many years, I haven’t seen a lot of problems that didn’t include an easy fix. There is nothing complicated about them or anything that normally can't be fixed with a little TLC or inexpensive parts. The proper chamber brush I mentioned is much larger than the bore brush and is really stiff and tapered. Work it with the carbon remover and any good solvent formulated for shotgun fouling buildup. You sound frustrated with the gun, but you could save a lot of $$$ by trying a few of the simple fixes mentioned to you in the previous posts. We can rule out the ammunition factor because it is clearly not the issue. If you are satisfied after ruling out the TRAINING and DIRT questions, then maybe you need to seek other options. In my experience, issues can be resolved 95 percent of the time by addressing the training and dirt issues. Good luck